Rocking pocketed ball game



March 8, 1949. R. L. JACOBS ROCKING POCKE'I'ED BALL GAME Filed July 10, 1946 INVENTOR. I ROBERT L.JACOBS Z BY ATTORNEYS Patented Mar.8, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ROCKING POCKETED BALL GAME Robert L. Jacobs, Cleveland, Ohio Application July 10, 1946, Serial No. 682,549

3 Claims. 1

The present invention relates to games and is more particularly concerned with a toy adapted to a game of chance.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a device of the character referred to of simple and compact construction which can be manufactured at low cost.

With the foregoing and other objects and advantages in view the invention consists of the novel construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating the invention,

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the toy partially in section.

Figure 2 is a bottom plan view thereof partially in section.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view.

Figure 4 is a vertical transverse view on line 4-4 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary section on line 5-5 of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is an enlarged detail view partly in section of a latch device.

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the king ball with a part broken away to indicate the nature of the material of which it is made.

Like numerals, as used in the description and drawings, designate the same structural parts.

I0 refers to the frame or case of the toy, which is semi-circular in form.

It consists of flat semi-circular front II and back [2, suitably spaced apart in parallelism and joined by an arcuate bottom 13, provided with a plurality of round apertures l4 suitably positioned for the purposes of a game to be played with balls designed to enter any of said apertures.

Surrounding the said bottom i3 is an arcuate compartment l4 formed by extensions to the front and back plates and an arcuate supplemental bottom to join said extensions.

A removable top [6, of any suitable material such as Celluloid or a plastic, is mounted to slide laterally in ways formed by inwardly bent flanges. This top may be made of transparent material if desired.

A concentric semi-circular element ll, of wire having a loop or eye on each end and one in the middle, is slidably mounted on three horizontal guide bars [8 projecting on the periphery of the bottom [3 of the toy. Angular pins [9 varying in length to bar the holes M of the bottom, project laterally from the element l1 and are suitably spaced for the purposes aforesaid.

Surrounding the middle guide [8 is a coiled spring 2!] which is fixed at the front end to said guide. At its rear end the spring is mounted on a slidable sleeve 2!, affixed to element ll.

Interiorly of the spring and contiguous to the sleeve 2|, the guide It is notched on the side, as at 22. An horizontal pin 23 is mounted slidably and rotatably in ears 24 contiguous to and in parallelism with the said guide it. The front end of this slidable pin is provided with a handle 25, at a right angle to it and projecting upwardly. At its opposite or rear end the slidable pin is bent at a right angle, to form an arm 25 to engage the rear of sleeve 2!. This arm has an edge designed to engage notch 22. Between said arm and the handle, the pin 23 is formed with a crank 21 to form a trip lever.

The round apertures are positioned in the slopes of the semi-circular bottom I3 thus some are elevated more than others. These apertures are designed for ball pockets.

An arcuate track 28 contiguous to the outer surface of said bottom, extends from an elevated aperture to the vicinity of said trip lever 21 and is designed as a runway for the hereinafter king ball.

On the side of said bottom opposite to the said aperture, is an enlarged aperture 29 which communicates with the compartment Hi. This serves to empty the balls from the bottom iii into the main compartment of the toy after said king ball has been played.

A plurality of balls 30 of equal size, is provided to play the game. One of them, which may be arbitrarily called the king ball, is heavier than the others. All are designed to pass through any of the apertures id but the king ball is the only one of sufficient weight to trip lever 27. Preferably two of the light balls are colored red, two white and one blue and one, the heavier king ball, green. Each of the apertures I i is marked or colored to correspond with the colors of the balls.

To play the game with this toy the handle 25 is pulled outward, thus compressing spring 20, and is then turned to seat the arm 26 of pin 23 in notch 22 of the guide l8. This draws element l1 forward to bar apertures l4 and throw the crank or trip 21 into close proximity with the lower end of ball track and the toy is now set for the introduction of the balls in the top compartment. The top I6 is slid back to admit the balls, one at a time, and the king ball is the last one to be dropped in.

Obviously, when the arcuate member I1 is drawn forward with its closure projections over the ball apertures l4, any ball finding lodgement in, an aperture is held, as in a pocket, until the lever 21 is tripped by the king ball. When this occurs all the imprisoned balls will drop into the comparement formed by the supplemental bottom IS.

The object of the game is to pocket the colored balls in similarly colored apertures, by a turning motion and then drop the king ball in the toy and try to course it to the elevated aperture adjacent the upper end of the track where there is no bar and once through, gravity will send it down against said trip, thus releasing the pin from notch 22 and allowing spring 2 01to return the arcuate member I! to normal position with its bars removed from the apertures hi.

This toy can be constructed of any suitablematerial, such as wood, metal or plastic and any number of balls and ball apertures employed, with or without colors. If colors are not used all :balls should be seated before the last, or king ball, is played.

As different embodiments may be made of this inventive concept and modifications may be made in the embodiment hereinbefore show-n and described, it will be understood that the matter herein is to be interpreted as illustrative merely, and not in a limiting sense.

What I claim is:

1. A ball game apparatus comprising in combination a case provided with an apertured arcuate bottom, a supplemental bottom to enclose said bottom, provided with an exit to the said case, a removable top for said case, means for barring said apertures, means exteriorly of said case and operatively connected to said barring means for shifting the latter to its barring position, means on said barring means for releasing the latter from its barring position, a ball operable by gravity to operate said releasing means, and a plurality of balls each designed to pass through said apertures, said first ball being of a weight heavier than that of each of said plurality of balls.

2. A ball game apparatus comprising in combination a case provided with an arcuate bottom having a plurality of round apertures suitably spaced apart and positioned in the slopes thereof, a supplemental bottom to enclose said arcuate bottom and provided with an exit aperturecommunicating with said case contiguous to the top where the latter means is in barring relation with respect to said apertures, means operatively connected to said member for releasing the barring means from its barring position, a track extending from an elevated aperture to the immediate vicinity of said releasing means, a ball operable by gravity on said track to operate said releasing means, and a plurality of balls each designed to pass through said apertures, said first ball being of a weight heavier than that of each of said plurality of balls.

3. A ball game apparatus comprising in combination a case provided with an approximately semi-circular bottom having a plurality of round apertures suitably spaced apart and positioned in the slopes thereof, a supplemental bottom to enclose said semi-circular bottom and provided with an exit communicating with the interior of said case contiguous to the top thereof, a removable transparent top for said case, an arcuate member mounted on guide members attached horizontally to the periphery of the semi-circular bottom, a plurality of angular pins attached to said arcuate member and suitably positioned to bar said apertures in the said bottom, a rotatable pin mounted on the periphery of said bottom adjacent one of said guide members and provided with a suitable handle to operate same, a coil spring operatively connected to said one guide member and arcuate member to retain the latter in a position where its attached pins do not bar said apertures, said rotatable pin being provided at its opposite end with an arm designed to compress said spring, a projection on said rotatable pin intermediate its handle and arm, said one guide member being provided with a notch designed to be engaged by the arm on said rotatable pin when said spring is compressed, a track extending from an elevated aperture to the projection on said rotatable pin, a ball operable by gravity on said track to impact said projection and release said arm from said notch, and a plurality of balls each designed to pass through said apertures, said first ball being of a weight heavier than that of each of said plurality of balls.

ROBERT L. JACOBS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATE$ PATENTS Number Name Date 1,765,019 Maxwell June 17, 1930 1,928,281 Clark Sept. 26, 1933 

